Tag: Jay Hieron

The year was 2004. Britney Spears was still skinny and childless. “Deadwood” had just premiered on HBO. Janet Jackson sparked controversy by showing the world her wonderful, glorious nipple during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. It was a different time, a simpler time.

It was also the last time Ken Shamrock’s hand was raised in MMA victory, after a TKO via knee 1:26 into round one against Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 48: Payback. On the same fight card, Frank Mir broke Tim Sylvia’s arm, and a little-known fighter by the name of Georges St. Pierre knocked out Jay Hieron on the undercard.

Now here we are, four years (and, for Shamrock, five straight losses) later, and “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” is preparing to headline a fight on CBS against Kimbo Slice, a former backyard brawler now trained by Bas Rutten. If that’s possible, just imagine where we’ll be four years from now. The world is indeed a strange and inscrutable place.

Former IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has reportedly verbally agreed to face Drew Fickett at the next Affliction event in Las Vegas on October 11. The real question is, will Fickett find some clever new way to screw it up? Fickett’s manager, Alexander Oxendine, seems open to that possibility:

“We’re in discussion with a few organizations and Affliction is one of them,” said Oxendine. “They are at the top of our list. As far as Drew is concerned, he’s made a great turnaround with his life and training. He is ready to move forward.”

So now one of MMA’s favorite troublemakers is being offered a spot in Affliction against one of the tougher welterweights outside of the UFC, and he’s not sure if he wants to take it? Affliction should not only be at the top of his list, it should be the entire list. He should run down there and sign the contract in his own blood before they have a chance to change their minds. Let’s hope this is just a negotiating ploy by his agent. If Fickett ends up turning this down to fight in some small show at a fairground somewhere, we’ll know it’s time for new management. No, not Mark Dion, either.

Some more news and rumors emerging about Affliction’s October 11th show in Las Vegas…

— Tim Sylvia and Ben Rothwell’s agent Monte Cox has informed Five Ounces of Pain that the two Miletich big boys are unlikely to be added to “Day of Reckoning,” though they could be part of Affliction’s third event.

— According to Tom Atencio, Aleksander Emelianenko “still faces licensing problems” and will not fight at “Day of Reckoning.” Said the CSAC’s Bill Douglas: “The one thing that I can absolutely say is that he (Emelianenko) was not and will not be cleared to fight in California. He is officially denied a license and that will stand for all of the United States of America.” The reason for Emelianenko’s rejection is still unclear, though he and his camp continue to refute reports that he tested positive for Hepatitis B before “Banned.”

— According to MMA Junkie, the middleweight bout between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort that was slated for “Day of Reckoning” could be scratched due to a hand injury suffered by Belfort. No word yet on who might replace him on the card against Lindland.

Despite Dana White’s love of criticizing every aspect of the IFL and citing them as a cautionary tale for MMA startups, it seems fighter contracts and an extensive video library are just too attractive for him to pass up. According to a report on MMA Payout, Zuffa is very close to buying the IFL.

The deal isn’t finalized, says Sam Caplan, but this is the most credible report thus far regarding the potential purchase of the IFL. The company was said to be on the market for around $1 million, but the UFC is believed to be getting it for less than that. Sources within the IFL could only confirm for us that the talks have been under way for some time now and the UFC is the leading suitor.

In case you’re wondering why the UFC would buy the company they spent so much time badmouthing, a clue could lie within Saturday’s “Silva vs. Irvin” fight card. The event features three former IFL fighters — Reese Andy, Rory Markham, and Brad Blackburn — whose entry into the Octagon was hastened by the UFC’s decision to put together an event to rival Affliction’s.

The UFC may be hoping to pick up some of the IFL’s better known stars, along with the video library to help promote them, in order to shore up their fighter roster before the likes of Jay Hieron, Chris Horodecki, Ryan Schultz, Jim Miller, and Roy Nelson (to name just a few) get snapped up by competitors like Affliction and Elite XC.

You know what the best part of this video is? It isn’t hearing IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron do his best not to bash the IFL even though they canceled his next fight and yet aren’t allowing him to take another, though that is uncomfortable watch.

Hieron seems to be taking the whole IFL cancellation in stride, though I have to say I might be slightly more pissed off if my employer was keeping me from making a living. They aren’t giving him a fight in August, and also aren’t allowing him to look for other fights until after August. So basically they’re telling him to take the summer off, and if he doesn’t want to, then they’re forcing him to take the summer off. Nice.

Nothing like hanging out in fighter purgatory to make you wonder what happened to that organization that was supposed to be taking great care of their fighters.

As we approach the big showdown on Saturday night, here’s some lesser-known Georges St. Pierre fights to get you in the mood. First, it’s St. Pierre’s second Octagon appearance at UFC 48, where he beats down current IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron in under two minutes. Next, it’s GSP’s first pro fight, where Rush staves off the scrappy Ivan Menjivar to score a very questionable TKO via verbal tapout at the end of the first round. And finally, it’s the “GoldenPalace.com” TKO fight against Dave Strasser, which St. Pierre took after his first career loss (vs. Matt Hughes at UFC 50); lovely half-guard to side-control pass at 5:11 and the fight-ending kimura is just as slick.

We would post video of the weigh-ins, but it was just too intense for a Thursday.

— Keith Kizer and his NSAC boys weren’t able to bust any of the fighters from WEC 33. Fighters were tested for the normal perf-enhancing drugs and those of abuse. Brian Stann, Doug Marshall, Logan Clark, Alex Serdyukov, Richard Crunkilton, Chael Sonnen, Bryan Baker, Steve Cantwell, and Marcus Hicks were given a pass for their piss. Kizer said that the state of Nevada has had “no positive tests yet this year, although we have tested way more fighters in January through March 2008 than in any other January through March period of years past.” Brag, much?

We would post video of the piss — and other — tests, but it’s too early on a Thursday for that sort of thing.

B.J. won his first fight on August 24th of last year and his second was in January — both via TKO. Jones played in eleven games with the Giants during the ’02 NFL season, then bolted (aka, was released) for the mighty Arena Football League. And now he’s on to MMA. Why, you ask?

He ultimately decided to test his competitive fire by transitioning into mixed martial arts after being exposed to the sport through competitive grappling and televised MMA events.

“Somebody introduced me to submission wrestling, grappling, and I got into that and I loved it, and did very well there,” Jones was quoted as saying in an ESPN.com article last year. “I wanted to do something more and I watched MMA on TV all the time, UFC and Pride, and I fell in love with it.”

— The IFL has added a fight to its April 4th Jersey card. Alex Schoenauer will face Jersey boy Brendan Barrett, increasing the fight card to ten bouts on a night that will see title defenses by Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko, Jay “The Thorobred” Hieron, and Wagnney Fabiano. Matyushenko will defend against Jamal Patterson in a light heavy bout, Hieron against Mark Miller for the 170 belt, and Fabiano steps in with Shad Lierley at 145 lbs. The IFL also named two replacements for the show — Jason Black, reppin’ Miletich Fighting Systems, and Jim Miller of Renzo Gracie Academy.

The IFL held a media conference call today with Chris Horodecki and Jay Hieron, who answered reporters’ questions about their upcoming bouts for the lightweight and welterweight titles (respectively) at the IFL World Grand Prix. Full audio from the call is available at Jarry Park. We’ll save you some time — the questions that CagePotato was able to ask are below:

Both of you fought [in the IFL] as L.A. Anacondas. What’s the best advice or fighting tip you’ve ever gotten from Bas Rutten? Jay Hieron: When [Bas] fights, he definitely gets over-aggressive and he wants to finish fights so quick that he had to write “relax” on his arm, so I tried it in one of my fights and I believe that helped me out a little bit, to basically stay more relaxed out there. And like Chris just said before with the knockout situation [regarding a question about Horodecki's apparent lack of a knockout punch], let stuff come, don’t force anything and it will come.Chris Horodecki: I really admire Bas, too, outside the thing, just the type of person he is. He’s got a great heart and he really stresses balance in and out of the ring, and taking your mind away from fighting when the job is done. You train hard, and then you gotta rest hard. I think that’s important too.

Chris, I know the legal drinking age in Ontario is 19. Does it bother you not being able to go out for a few cocktails with the guys in L.A. because of the drinking age of 21 in the States? Horodecki: After the fight, I’m pretty quick to go home, but I try to keep as behaved as I can while in the States. In terms of being out here [at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas], it makes it real easy to not get distracted. It’s not available to me. Back home I can go out all the time, but I’m here so it’s just business right now.

Are there any other drawbacks you see to being younger than everyone else you fight and train with?Horodecki: Not really. I think it’s a benefit. I’m just starting out, I’m not racing the clock. A lot of fighters are starting their careers and they’re racing the clock to get in as many fights and do their thing before they hit their peak, so I think that’s an advantage to myself. I’m just real fortunate.

Unfortunately, a subsequent question about “crazy fan experiences” didn’t result in any entertaining anecdotes.

The IFL World Grand Prix goes down on December 29 and will be broadcast live from Uncasville, CT, on HDNet.